What do fish do in the rain?

I've been up since 4am so goodness knows what I'm capable of saying/writing.

We've been having a lot of rain this month... a LOT of rain. I personally don't mind it as those are sometimes my most creative times. I just wanted to share a little story with you.

Last week Janet and I were out on the side porch brainstorming and looking at what was blooming in the gardens and I mentioned to her that the water lilies had started to bloom in the water garden.

Once again it began to rain and she turned to me and asked "What do the fish do when it rains? Do they hide under the lily pads?" to which I remarked with a very serious face "Yes they do... they don't like to get wet."

On that note I'm going to change my address and hope she can't find me. ;o)

Enjoy the rain....

Best...

Canace

BUTTERFLY FREEBIE

Morning all..

I hope you had a good productive and/or fun weekend. Mine as you know was spent treasure hunting and the rest was in my studio getting ready for the 3 shows that Janet and I will be doing in the coming months.

Not too long ago I posted one of my finished projects which included a real butterfly. I mentioned then that he came from a local butterfly farm. The kind lady there gave me all of the butterflies that had lived their life cycle last season. I have so many that they fill one of my studio drawers. I think it's quite beautiful when I open the drawer so I've taken a picture of it for you. Please remember... these butterflies were raised for educational purposes and they lived a very pampered full life expectancy. If you click on the image it will give you a larger one that you can feel free to use in your work without any strings attached. Have fun with it and have a great day.


Also:

FREE GIVEAWAY AT MAGIC MOONLIGHT STUDIO BLOG
Blanca is giving away gift tags on her blog in celebration of being credited in Somerset Life.
Just go to her blog and make a comment and if you win you can pick out 4 sets of your choice.

Best...

Canace

STASH

Yesterday was for treasure hunting so I thought I'd share some pics of my new stash... old books and magazines dated 1898 - 1910... skeleton keys ($2 for a whole bag) a printers block of a mechanical drawing (love it!) and a whole bucket of hardware. Too much to list but the pics will show you that I had a fun time treasure hunting. :o)

After the thunderstorms yesterday we now have beautiful cool and clear weather. I'm going to work in the gardens... at least I think they're still gardens... do weeds count?

Have a great Sunday..


Best...

Canace

A Ray of Sunshine and Denise's fabric

I woke up to this view from my front porch this morning. I thought I would send it your way so you could enjoy a bright beginning to your day too.

I'm sneaking this part in after the fact. Denise is participating in a big yard sale at the New Prospect Church today and she is selling some of her gorgeous fabric remnants. So if you're local dash down there and get some for your projects. For those of you who are not local take a look at Denise's beautiful art quilting on her blog: Wild Thread Studio

Here is a sample of some of the fabric that I got this morning for Janet and I
I think our husbands are going to put us in a yard sale soon if we don't stop bringing stuff home!
Not really... my husband loves to see all the goodies I bring home. He knows that I get very excited over all my stash and will do something with it eventually. I'll let Janet speak for herself. ;o) Now to put it all away.

I thought it would be fun to be more interactive here on my blog so I'm going to post questions now and again hoping that we will get some interesting answers. I know some people have been daunted by the process of leaving comments.. little glitches here and there... but I think that google has resolved the issue so it should be easy to leave your comments. If you feel funny about posting then drop me an email and I will post it for you. canace@hvc.rr.com

Okay... 1st question

What is your best find at a yard sale/barn sale/flea market?

It can be based on price or the fact that it was just an awesome/unusual find.

2nd question

Do you have a great place to find treasures that you would like to share with everyone else?

I hope we get some good answers! :o)

Okay, if you insist... I'll start. ...

My best find was a few years back when I bought a Hummel for $2 at a yard sale... it now books for $300

Great place... Hudson Valley Materials Exchange a non-profit community warehouse for Arts-Education-Building materials in New Paltz, N.Y. They acquire materials from mostly businesses... all the by-products of manufacturing or left over products and materials. It's an awesome place to root through because you never know what you're going to find and figure out how to use it. It's a tremendous recycling effort on their part and they should receive kudos for all the hard work they do. Kudos!

Have a great day!

Best...
Canace

P.S. Here is a picture for Linda :o)

And another picture for Dix :o)

NYC Art and Architecture

Since the Central Park pictures were so popular I thought I'd post a few more of my photos from one of my 'wander around the city' days.

See anything unusual about this building?
Take a good close look and you will see that only 2 windows are real. The rest are the trompe l'oeil masterpiece of Richard Haas 1975. The building is located on Prince Street in Soho.

This next building has so many statues of great significance you may want to do some research online so that you will know what they mean. It is the Surrogate Court Building on Chambers St. in Manhattan and the meaning of all of the statues is fascinating. I practically had to stand on my head to get this shot... lol
And finally today, what is probably one of my very most favorite buildings in NYC, the Municipal Building on Centre St. in Manhattan. You may recognize it in a graphic piece I did called 'Night Watch'. If you go to my website and look under Art Cards/Fantasy you can see it. The Municipal Building is crowned by a 20' statue called 'Civic Fame' by sculptor Adolph Weinman. Civic Fame was commissioned by the City to celebrate the five boroughs uniting to become the City of New York. It's striking on any day in NY but on a sunny day its gilded copper simply radiates.
I hope you enjoyed your little walk through lower Manhattan with me.

Have a great weekend!

Best...

Canace

Angel of the Waters

Both my husband and I are avid photographers so now and again I will incorporate some of our photographs for you to see.

Since I live only about 75 miles north of New York City I make it a point to visit and wander several times a year. It may be for a Broadway show... The Metropolitan Museum... or a myriad of other pastimes including my photography. I particularly love photographing the incredible architectural elements in the city and incorporating many of them in my graphic arts. I spent one such day in and around Central Park.

Central Park was designed by Frederick Olmstead and Calvert Vaux in 1858. Their attention to detail and art was and is unparalleled in every minute detail of Central Park. Their bas relief figures in Bethesda Terrace staircase are well worth seeing.

Bethesda Terrace is probably the most famous view people think of in regard to Central Park as it's been in many movies.


In the center of the terrace is a massive fountain called 'Angel of the Waters'. She was created by Emma Stebbins who was the first woman to have a sculptural commission in NYC in 1873. Good for you Emma! :o)
I hope you enjoyed your mini tour of Bethesda Terrace and the Angel of the Waters. Oh..... and the pigeons are real. :o)

Whew! Couldn't help myself.... I like her this way better...


Best...

Canace

Out my window....

I had a visitor today... she was happily munching behind the back water garden.

Bonjour mes amis

C'est mon dernier morceau appelé un beau jeune femme.
J'espère que vous l'aimez.











(This is my latest piece called 'Beautiful Young Woman'. I hope you like it. )

It's made with the bottom of a heavy wooden cigar box and a real butterfly given to me by our local butterfly farm after he lived his expected lifetime. Now he lives on in this piece. :o)

Have a wonderful day...

Best...

Canace

Shhhhh... Don't tell.....

I'm supposed to be grocery shopping but instead I'm reading/writing blogs.

Short and sweet... I've posted a picture of my latest piece... so different for me and my style... but it was a lot of fun to do. I want to frame it in black which will pull it all together nicely. It's coated in beeswax for the soft luster it leaves on the surface.
I call it "House of Whimsy".

Hope you all have a wonderful and creative day...

Best...

Canace

Turtle Traffic Jam

Morning all...

As you may have read, I live on the Shawangunk Mountain range in the Hudson Valley and for the past few years I've become very disenchanted with the influx of people, what they're calling urban/suburban sprawl. Having lived here for over 20 years I've seen a lot of changes to our quiet communities.

My closest town to shop is Pine Bush which is about 7 miles from here. We only recently got a second traffic light so that gives you an indication of how small it is. Pine Bush is also known as a UFO capital, complete with a diner called 'Cup and Saucer' that has a little flying saucer out front. Apparently it is part of the magnetic vortexes that they say attract UFO's. I haven't witnessed the visits myself but it's been featured on numerous documentaries. Maybe that is what has attracted so many new people.

Having mentioned my disenchantment with all the new people I must say that yesterday I gained renewed faith in the humanity here. I was driving down Route 52 late yesterday when I started to approach the area that is considered the hot spot for viewing UFO's. Denise and Janet will know where I mean. It's right near a cemetery and most of the UFO video footage has been taken there. I digress... sorry.

Okay, so I was approaching that particular spot and I could see something in the road on my side. Apparently the people on the opposite side saw it too and they slowed to a stop along with me. There in the road was the most immense snapping turtle I'd ever seen. They're not kidding when they say turtles are slow.... as molasses in January! He was taking his sweet 'ole time if you please making his way to the other side. (with the chicken?) Well.... we put on our flashers and showed our determination not to let Mr. Snappington get run over. I would say a good 10 cars ended up behind me and probably the same for the other side before it was safe to get around him. No one complained... no one honked.... and everyone very gingerly and carefully made their way past him. In case you're wondering... and you're not familiar with snapping turtles... they snap! So it wouldn't have been at all prudent for any of us to get anywhere near this granddaddy of a turtle. I'm just so happy that he made it to the other side and all those who were there were not in a big hurry and happy to let him make his way safely.

I've attached another picture of my studio as a lot of people seem to enjoy seeing all the little details. One thing you might notice on the center island... which btw used to be a display piece in a country store..... several notebooks. I'm in the process of compiling all of my graphic prints and ACEO's into the books to use when Janet and I do the Farmer's Market on the 11th of July. The Farmer's Market in Pine Bush is a hopping place! People milling like ants the whole day, buying crusty fresh breads, cheeses, jams and jellies and all sorts of beautiful fresh vegetables. The Orange County (NY) arts council had a call to artists that the Farmer's Market would like to feature a different artist each week so that's what we're going to do on the 11th. The exposure will be good... wish us well. :o)

The reason I mention this is those of you who are artists may want to check with your local Chambers of Commerce or area Art Councils to see if you might do the same. Stop by your Farmer's Markets and ask. Ours features musicians too... so go for it... buy local.. etc. Also go to your county website and check their calander of events. Pine Bush is also featuring an art tour on the 8th of August which is free of charge. You just tell them where you want to set up your marquee and they map it. The last art tour was a great success so they're doing it again. Maybe you could suggest it for your local townships.

Well, it's Monday.... the day I reclaim the house from the weekend of run here and there so I'd better get to it.... especially if I want any studio time. I'm working on something entirely different than I've ever done before. Smell the beeswax? Maybe I'll give you a preview tomorrow. ;o)



Best...

Canace

TWO Mysteries Solved!

So it seems as though most people didn't see my little friend at the park. Maybe that's unfair since some people may not realize you can click on the pics in the blog and see them in larger format.

So here he is... my amazing little creature from Algonquin Park... my little gnome in his little cape.. hiding away in a little niche.

And... the second mystery. I was talking to my Dad yesterday about the park and the powder mill monster and he told me what the purpose of that particular stone building was. It was called the 'Shot Tower'. Inside that creepy underground door the surrounding ponds would feed water into a pool so when the workers climbed up into the top of the tower they could drop molten lead by droplets. The droplets would form into bullet shape by going the distance from the tower to the pool where they would cool and other workers would fish them out. Civil War bullets! I love finding out things like that!

I'm off to get an early start as my wonderful Dad is coming for dinner today.. Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to my Dad... who has given me so much love, wisdom and support my entire life. I will always be Daddy's little girl.

And... to all of you... Happy Father's Day! Love and cherish your Dad today and every day.


Best...

Canace

The Old Powder Mill

Today I thought I'd break away from art (can it be true?) to reminisce a bit about my childhood. I grew up in a quiet little town not far from a park where I spent most of my time. The area was noted for the Algonquin Indians, thus it was called Algonquin Park.














On the park grounds were countless stone structures that as a child I had no clue what their purpose might have been. Now I know that the stone buildings were part of what was known as the powder mill. During the Civil War era gun powder was manufactured there and the powder mill still stands and has been restored.

The powder mill was built on a small hill and there was a room of sorts built under it with an old wood door that had a tiny opening with iron bars. Back when I was little (way back) all the kids in our neighborhood made up stories about what was in that room to scare each other. The most popular story said that there was a creature, half man and half gorilla living inside and if you got too close to the opening in the door he could reach out and pull you into his cavern and eat you alive. Needless to say I never got too close as it was all too real for me but of course there were plenty of dares. No one had the courage to take up the dare so I guess we'll never know what sort of creature lurked behind that door waiting for some tender morsel.


Last year I paid a visit to my park full of memories... even my first kiss... and I took photos of most of the old stone buildings and ruins. One in particular stood out when I uploaded it to my computer. I'm not sure what the original purpose of the ruins were but there is (in my mind and eye) a small creature living there now. Can you find him? I promise I have done nothing to alter the picture, it is exactly as I uploaded it. If you want to see a larger picture just email me and I will send it to you. Canace@hvc.rr.com

Hope you enjoy visiting with my little friend from Algonquin Park.


Best...

Canace

More Studio Pics and a new assemblage♦

Good morning..

I'm determined to zip right through this and get down to my studio so here goes....First the pics of the studio...














I know every one of us have all these great ideas zipping through their heads all the time for things to create. I can't afford not to write them down so this is a pic of some of the post-it notes that I have in the studio.... and for my graphic arts my office looks the same... notes... notes.. and more notes. Sometimes I can't figure out what I was talking about when I finally get around to them!

Soooo.... pic of notes.... my work table that day... and some vintage doll heads that give my daughter the creeps... and she loves anything to do with halloween... go figure.

Lastly is my latest assemblage called 'The Summer Of' ... I listed it on Etsy last night too if you want to see more and larger pics. Comments welcome :o)


Have a great weekend!

Best...

Canace

Warning... Warning... Danger.. Danger....

Just kidding.... that was just to get your attention.

I wanted to tell you all about 2 of my friends that have some exciting things going on.

Firstly... Janette Schuster has a newsletter with all new workshops that she will be teaching both in her hometown in New Hampshire as well as in Connecticut for the Art Is You workshops.I took one of Janette's classes last fall and it was awesome and she is a wonderful teacher. Go have a look... she's even doing robots now! The Art of Janette Schuster


Secondly.... Terri Ventura from Dimestore Emporium now has a brand new website and she has a special offer ... 10% discount on the website until June 30th by using code # 62790. She has beautiful stuff and great prices. Dimestore Emporium

And last, but certainly not least is my daughter Brianne who creates the most beautiful jewelry. She has opened an Etsy store and I have high hopes for her. The pictures of her jewelry don't do justice to how gorgeous her hand crafted pieces are. She uses only the very best crystals and stones and all of her pieces are amazing. Please stop by her store and have a look; Mystikal1981


Best...

Canace

My Favorite Things

Good morning...

I thought I'd share a few more pics today. These are some of my favorite things in my studio.

The first is 'Lil Guy' who I rescued from an auction market a few weeks ago. He's had a tough life and feels happy and secure in his little birdhouse. (Yard sale $1)

The second is a childhood fulfillment so to speak. When I was little our family had very little money and what we did have went for the necessary things so I never had the little girl things that my friends had. The one thing that I loved most at my friend Laurie's house was her tin dollhouse. We would play for hours and hours, letting our imaginations take hold. When I saw this dollhouse at a yard sale ($10) it took my breath away. Everything right down to the little furniture was the same! I look at it every day and remember vividly all the little families we imagined together SO long ago and what it was like to be 7 again.

Lastly is a more practical piece. My poor husband drove 6 hours to get it for me in Massachusetts. I call it my '72' because it has 72 wonderful drawers full of all sorts of things to spark the imagination. My studio used to be upstairs but when I got this library card file we realized that I needed to move downstairs because it was #1 So big... and #2 Sooo heavy. I'm waiting for the west side of my studio to sink lower than the rest. The cabinet weighed a ton but full... ooooo... I don't want to know!

A beautiful rainy day here.... great for working under the skylight in my studio... no glare. :o)
Off to work!

Best...

Canace

10 Questions

Last week I was asked to answer 10 questions for an artist interview.

Two questions were; 'What is your favorite word?' and 'What is your least favorite word?'

I answered 'eclectic' for my favorite as I so completely appreciate bringing together unrelated things to create something new and wonderful. My answer to the second question was 'Can't'. All my life I have heard people say, "I can't do that." and I find it sad that anyone would adopt that attitude. In my life there is no such thing as 'can't'... we can try anything. At some things we will excel and others will become a learning experience.

As Henry Van Dyke said in my favorite saying: "Use the talents that you possess, for the woods would be silent if no birds sang except those that sang best." Henry Van Dyke

For those of you who may be interested in the full 10 questions I have listed them below.

1. What is your favorite word?

2. What is your least favorite word?

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

4. Tell us about your earliest memory that led you to becoming an
artist.


5. What kind of space do you like to exist in when you are working?
Describe the space you typically work in. What type of space would you
ideally like to work in?


6. What inspirations do you draw on in the Hudson Valley? (Substitute your location)


7. What have you learned from other artists in the area?


8. What profession outside of the arts would you like to attempt?
(this should also be outside of your non-art “day job”)


9. If you could no longer work in your discipline, how else do you think you would express yourself?


10. What are you working on this year?

Have fun thinking about your answers.

Best....
Canace

Famous last words...

"I don't do blog!" .... Well.... here I am, starting a blog after all my protests of not having the time or inclination; that I would much rather spend my time working on my art than writing of things that may or may not be interesting to others.

So.... here I am.... we'll see how it goes. I am making no commitments here... I'm not a joiner... not a blogger... until today.

Best..
Canace